Cannabis Legalization: What Will It Take?

Two states on Nov 6^th changed their laws on cannabis, joining many who have already legalized for medicinal purposes, and now making it recreationally legal. This has raised questions about, ‘What’s Next?’

The great Yankee catcher Yogi Berra said, “It is hard to make predictions especially about the future.” But one of my favorite TV characters said, “Let us examine the nature of prediction. The human mind is capable of seeing into the short range future with reasonable accuracy.” He then explains that the more information you have, the more accurate the prediction.

Let’s look into the future of the country. Cannabis is legal. How did it happen? An Executive Order? A Bill signed by a President? An Amendment to the Constitution?

Of the three possible ways above, the only one with concrete substance is an Amendment. But, a ‘Cannabis Victory’ could be short lived, because of a legal theory espoused by many weakens that substance.

The Living Document theory is destructive of the Constitution, of Contract and of Agreement itself.

There are two groups of people who claim to support the Living Document theory, those who understand what it means and those who merely say they do because the first group is the one they support. The second group is mindlessly ignorant, the first group should be shunned.

Supporters of Living Document theory claim it means that you interpret the Constitution and the law based not upon what is written, but on “evolving circumstances.” But it really means that whatever agreement you have with another person or persons, even if you write it down and sign the agreement, is meaningless.

Before we get some meaningless victory against modern-day Prohibition, before we ask “now what,” we need to fix this issue. It is a core legal issue. In my not-so-humble opinion, it is THE core legal issue, and neither major political party discussed Legal Theory at all during the last election.

Only a return to Textualism can secure Liberty and see the end of Prohibition. Textualism ended the last Prohibition. Its return would ensure any future victory.

Over the next few weeks, the competing legal theories and their effect on cannabis laws will be examined.

Cannabis Legalization: What Will It Take?